Sayreville, NJ – 15 April, 2025
So here I am, alive at last and I’ll savor every moment of this
A sea of formerly disaffected teens (still disaffected, just older and nursing a sore back now) converged upon New Jersey as The Used came through for night 1 of a 3 night residency at the Starland Ballroom. Celebrating 25 years as a band, each night was dedicated to a full playthrough of their 2002 classic self-titled debut. I remember seeing The Used on the tour cycle for their first record, falling in love with that first record and losing my voice over and over to that first record. Few albums in my life have felt as fresh as this one after 25 years, but Bert McCracken’s vocals and lyrics are captivating while the musicianship behind him are cathartically perfect.
If there was ever any doubt that this record connected on deeply personal levels with listeners, they didn’t last looking at the joy and anxiety across the crowd lined up for entry before doors and the sheer volume of people lined up for a photo opp in front of a 6 square foot canvas standee represented the album art. From elder emos to their young children the humanity in the room was rife with passion and excitement. So was I.
Before The Used served up the dessert we all came for, it was time for a nice Family Dinner (It’s encouraged to boo this poor pun… I’d boo me). Family Dinner is a self proclaimed “horny, beach trash” 5 piece from Long Island. I gotta be honest, my first impression wasn’t great. I’m not sure of it was intentional or not, but for the first 3 songs vocals were low, inaudibly low, what the fuck low. Luckily, the sound engineer worked everything out and the band tore shit up.
The quintet performed a delightfully witty fun brand of ass-shaking indie. It may not have been what one would expect at a Used show, but Family Dinner are the kind of act that seems out of place yet fits perfectly on these types of bills. When you’ve got the energy and the passion, it doesn’t matter who shares your stage, you will shine. And shine Family Dinner did.
Frontperson Natalie wooed every person in the crowd thanks to perfectly timed coy smiles, batted lashes, contagious charisma amd killer fucking vocals. standing in glaring opposition to Natalie’s energy, Family Dinner’s drummer performed with nonchalance bordering on boredom but drove every song with surgical precision. Sometimes being this relaxed is a bad look, but this was magnetic and I couldn’t take my away from the kit. The band is preparing to enter The Barber Shop Studios with Brett Romnes of The Movielife to record a new album, and personally I’m pretty damned excited for that, you should be too.
Following the appetizing performance from Family Dinner it was finally time for The Used to hit the stage. The set opened with a project video across the front of the stage showing clips and moments from the early tour cycles. The band played the first bar of “Maybe Memories” before the screen dropped. It was fucking awesome.
After doing this for so long, with no hiatus, no break-ups, one would expect The Used’s frontman Bert McCrackin’s vocal cords would be shredded beyond their former glory, but immediately upon taking the stage it was clear he’s not lost any of his range. Bert is still a master showman, despite the closer crop to his hair than we saw on the original tour for this release. There was an electricity in the air looming thick and feeding off of and back into the crowd. Each band member brought a unique stage presence that added immensely to the night. Joey Bradford played tasty riffs with a stage fan blowing his glorious locks, accentuating the moment. Jeph Howard added unclean vocals to the songs while bouncing to the fore and aft of the stage.
It had been so long and God did it feel magical to sing along to “The Taste Of Ink,” to swoon during “Poetic Tragedy,” and to enjoy sense of surprise and wonder visiting Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at the end of “Box Full Of Sharp Objects.” It was amazing seeing the band perform “Blue and Yellow” live for the first time since 2004 or so, and yes, they even journeyed a bit away from the self-titled record to close out the night with “Choke Me.”
Every moment was a reminder of why this remains one of the few albums I’m still listening to after 20+ years. Every moment a reminder of why the show sold out. Every moment a reminder of the love the band shares with each other and their fans. Every moment was a moment to last for another 25 years with these dudes.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/